


Is That Why You're Pouting?

by Iamacarrot



Series: In Which Our Hero Needs Saving [1]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Worship, But not in an incestual way, Clones, Depression, HTTYD 2 references, Jealousy, Science Experiments, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Though I guess it depends on how you interperet it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 19:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16604375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: It's always nice to make the impossible become possible. Especially when you have the power to do so. Things can go perfectly, or they can go horrifically.Is there such a thing as being in the middle of those possibilities? Maybe.We'll just have to see how Donnie's experiment goes this time.





	Is That Why You're Pouting?

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note: None of this is supposed to be incestual, but you can view it as such if you feel like it. Everything that happens right before the end is being done in an unorthodox way of comfort.

"Hold still Michael! I need a few more samples from you!" Donnie huffed as he held his squirming baby brother on the floor.

"NO! You're taking off perfectly healthy scales! And it HURTS!" Mikey whined in response.

"I told you he wouldn't be okay with it." Leo commented as he stood in front of the two, a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms.

"Why can't you just test me or Leo?" Raph asked.

"Because! The bigger the subject, the harder it is to get a perfect result!" Donnie replied, grunting as Mikey very nearly pushed him off.

"You calling us fat?" Leo asked.

"What? No! I'm saying that my project is still in beta, and that I need a smaller subject so that the machine I built won't explode!" Donnie groaned, picking up the small scalpel he had dropped and dragging it along Mikey's arm, wincing at Mikey's shrieks of fear. "Put a band-aid on it! There. It's over."

Mikey sneered, slapping Donnie and standing up, wiping himself down and storming off.

Raph and Leo held back snickers, both looking to the side in amusement when they got a warning glare from their purple clad brother.

"You kinda deserved that." Raph chuckled.

"Whatever. At least I got enough DNA." Donnie said, standing up and carrying said "DNA" to his lab. His brothers followed him, watching with intrigue for the first three minutes before becoming bored; stating that they'd rather do something interesting. "If you feel that way, then go do as you please. Just stay out of my way for the time being."

Leo rolled his eyes, and Raph smirked, both turning and exiting the lab.

"This is going to be the best experiment I've ever constructed, right beside the Portable Bathroom." Donnie whispered with glee.

His experiment took around an hour, and that part was just the first half. Next, Donnie had to place his "finished product" into his previously mentioned machine, standing back and sliding his goggles over his eyes, watching the machine work for the next half hour before it stopped, and the large door at the front opened.

"SUCCESS!" Donnie screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mikey pouted as he placed another band-aid on the rapidly bleeding area on his arm.

"Why couldn't he have used a cotton swab and gotten a spit sample or something?" Mikey muttered.

"Don't worry about it Mike. Your scales will grow back." Leo assured.

"But in how long? These were healthy! I just finished shedding last week!" Mikey whined.

"Just don't think about it." Raph hummed.

"Boys, I would like to introduce you to yet another one of my masterpieces." Donnie announced, smiling widely.

Mikey scowled, picking up a pebble and hitting Donnie in the forehead.

"Ow. What was that for?" Donnie asked.

Mikey huffed, turning his back to Donnie and pouting. Donnie raised a brow, suddenly noticing the excessive amount of band-aids on Mikey's arm.

"Aww. Do you want an apology? You want me to say I'm sorry? Is that why you're pouting ya big baby?" Donnie asked. Mikey scoffed, mockingly mouthing Donnie's words.

"Well then try THIS on for size!" Donnie shouted, picking Mikey up and holding Mikey close. "Do you feel it?! Are you feeling all of my heartfelt remorse?!"

Mikey let out a grunt, his pout turning into a blank expression.

"Oh c'mon. You know you love me." Donnie teased.

"I do, and I hate it." Mikey huffed, holding back a smile as Donnie nudged their cheeks together subtly. "Alright. Fine. Show us your awesome masterpiece."

"Okay. Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my greatest achievement... MIKEY 2.0!" Donnie shouted, the announcement immediately followed by another Mikey hopping into the room.

Leo's mouth fell open, and Raph's eyes widened, whilst Mikey put on a look of disbelief.

"I know! Isn't he amazing?!" Donnie cheered excitedly.

"Yeah he is!" Raph and Leo shouted in unison, rushing towards Mikey's clone and leaving Mikey to puff out his cheeks angrily.

"You're just like the real Mikey!" Leo chuckled, poking the second Mikey's arm.

"I AM the real Mikey! In a sense." the clone replied.

"He even SOUNDS like Mikey!" Raph laughed.

"Donnie, if you can continue to make things like this beautiful angel, I'll consider being less sarcastic towards you... key word; consider." Leo commented.

Mikey turned heel, walking off to his room and slamming his door shut, the action going unnoticed by his brothers.

"How are we gonna know who's who?" Raph asked.

"Easy. This Mikey will be called 2." Donnie replied, pulling out a permanent marker and drawing a 2 on the clone's plastron.

"OOH! I'm a number!" 2 shouted.

"He's just as adorable." Leo whispered, pulling 2 into a hug.

Meanwhile, Mikey had resorted to stress painting. He really didn't have anything specific in mind, he just knew that he was pissed. First, Donnie hurts Mikey intentionally for some stupid experiment, and now the others are praising the experiment like it's some kind of puppy that did a trick on command for the first time!

"Treat it like some God... it doesn't even share my traits..." Mikey muttered.

"WHOA! He skateboards just as well as Mikey!"

"Yeah! Maybe even better!"

"Oh you've gotta be KIDDING ME!" Mikey roared, throwing his paintbrush down and plopping down onto a nearby swivel chair. "Way to go Don! You've successfully replaced me!" Mikey shouted to no one in particular, huffing as he looked to his bed, noticing the small turtle plushie he had won at a carnival a while back, which he affectionately named Plusho. "What are YOU looking at?" Mikey asked, frowning as Plusho leaned to the side slightly.

"I'm sorry Plusho. I'm just in a mood." Mikey admitted. "How come they find that clone so cool? It's literally me! They could see another me if we looked in a puddle or a mirror!"

Plusho sat silently.

"Of course. You're only sentient when it's convenient to you, huh?" Mikey sighed, looking to the floor.

"Maybe you would feel better if you got some air..." a voice whispered.

"You think?" Mikey asked, looking to Plusho.

"Perhaps." the voice replied.

Mikey nodded, standing up and crawling under his bed, opening a small hatch he had discovered a few months ago, disappearing through it and shutting it quietly.

As soon as he left, Leo opened Mikey's door, smiling as he noticed Plusho.

"And this is Plusho. Mikey's weird... sentient doll thingy." Leo announced to 2, shuddering as Plusho's head moved slightly so that her eyes were facing the two.

"You can uhm... you can try to imprint on her if you want. A bit of a warning, though: she's REALLY loyal to Mikey, so don't expect her to warm up immediately just because you look like Mikey." Leo advised.

"Okay!" 2 replied, watching Leo walk off. 2 looked to Plusho, taking note of the disturbing smile on Plusho's face, a row of sharp teeth being revealed as she did so. "You're silly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Mikey sighed happily, enjoying the feeling of the fresh, cool air on his face as he sat atop a tall building. "Plusho certainly knows me."

A sudden shout of excitement then pulled Mikey out his calm state, making him look towards another building. When he realized that the source of the shout was his brothers racing atop the nearby buildings with 2, Mikey scowled, gasping as he noticed that 2 was holding onto Plusho tightly.

"Oh that little TRAITOR!" Mikey screamed, standing up and making his way home. "Kyōdai ainotameni son'nani! Kore wa totemo bakagete imasu, naze watashi wa dōyō shite imasu ka? Ā, anata wa watashi no kyōdai no hitoridattara īnoni! This is so stupid..."

"Then why is it happening?" Splinter asked.

"Pop! I didn't hear you..." Mikey sniffled, wiping his tears away.

"That is because your senses dim when you are in a highly emotional state." Splinter replied. Mikey sat up, looking to the floor.

"How much of that did you hear?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, only all of it." Splinter chuckled. "So, with that out of the way; answer my question."

"Huh? Oh. I don't know. I guess I just don't like the way the others are treating my clone." Mikey admitted.

"Is that it?" Splinter asked.

"Well, I mean-"

"Orange, if you are getting so upset over a temporary thing, then you may as well be seven again." Splinter scolded.

"But dad, you don't understand! They're WORSHIPPING that thing!" Mikey whined.

"And that THING would be?" Splinter asked.

"Uhh, a clone of me?" Mikey replied, feeling that he had already made that part clear.

"Exactly. A clone of YOU. Which means that you are becoming upset only because your brothers have started to show affection to something that is you, but not." Splinter hummed.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Mikey whined.

"Or does it? Tell me, Orange; do you love your brothers?" Splinter asked.

"Of course I do!" Mikey replied.

"Do you love yourself?" Splinter continued.

"I... uh..." Mikey started, blushing as he hesitated for the longest of times.

"My point exactly. You are upset, not only because your brothers are showing attention to the clone, but because you feel such hatred towards something that is nothing more than your reflection. You know how you feel about yourself, but your brothers do not, and you are allowing that to fuel your dangerous feelings." Splinter sighed.

Mikey said nothing in response, knowing that what Splinter was saying was painfully true.

"I just... I WANT THEM to know... but I can't tell them! They'll just say I'm being too emotional! Or that It'll pass! Or that-"

"Orange! Do not ponder on what could happen! Think only about what you need to say to get the job done." Splinter instructed.

Mikey sighed, but nodded, opening his mouth to respond, and gasping as he heard his brothers' groans of disappointment.

"Hey dad. Hey Mikey." Donnie sighed.

"What happened?" Splinter asked.

"Turns out that clones can't handle water. 2 fell apart as soon as it started raining." Leo explained.

"Which sucks. We were having such a fun time with him." Raph muttered.

"He was like my baby... and now he's gone..." Donnie whimpered.

Mikey glared at his brothers, moving to stand up and grunting as Splinter used his tail to keep Mikey down.

"Tell them. Now." Splinter ordered.

"But I-"

"NOW." Splinter hissed.

"Okay!" Mikey whimpered. Splinter let Mikey go, watching as Mikey stood up, refusing to look his brothers in the eyes. The others looked at Mikey with confusion, wondering why Splinter was so adamant on Mikey telling them whatever it was that needed to be told.

"So... I just wanted to say... well... I hope you guys had fun with the other me! He was a swell clone, and it's a real shame that he had to go!" Mikey shouted, turning and speed walking away.

Splinter groaned, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Is that really what he was supposed to tell us?" Leo asked.

"Not even close..." Splinter sighed. "Come here, my sons. It is time I teach you about the consequences of your short attention spans."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tell me how to deal with my feelings; I don't need anyone telling me how I feel about myself! I already know! I LOVE myself! I'm perfect, just the way I am! I'm perfect! I'm PERFECT! I'M. PERFECT!" Mikey screamed, slamming his head against his closed door with every lie he let slip out of his mouth.

Mikey huffed, not even bothering to wipe the blood seeping out of his forehead away, letting it be a reminder of how much he actually lied to himself. A reminder of how much he hated himself.

A reminder of how much he deflected his brothers' words.

Of how little he believed they loved him.

"Why do I even bother saying it? It's not like they'll ever say it back." Mikey sighed.

A knock on his door then startled Mikey, making the young teen finally decide to wipe away as much blood as possible.

"What do you want?" Mikey asked.

"We never got the chance to give Plusho back." Leo replied, his voice missing its normal cheer.

"Oh keep her." Mikey muttered.

"Mikey, please open the door." Raph sighed.

"Why? It's not like I have any reason to want you in here." Mikey scoffed.

. . .

"Dad told us." Donnie sighed.

Mikey went silent, leaning against his door and pondering.

"Told you _WHAT_ exactly?" Mikey asked, knowing that the question was stupid.

"Please just let us in." Raph pleaded.

"No." was all that Mikey said, leaving the door and sitting on his bed, not surprised when his door was suddenly unlocked and opened. "Skeleton Key. Of course."

Donnie and Leo sat on either side of Mikey, while Raph sat in front of them, no one saying a thing.

"Why are you here?" Mikey finally asked. No one replied, they only looked to Mikey with unjudging looks. "If you're not going to say anything, then leave."

Leo frowned, placing a hand on Mikey's.

"Will you cut it out? You're making me a little uncomfortable." Mikey muttered, blushing and frowning as Donnie got closer. "Okay, this is one moment when I would accept commentary, thank you." Mikey whimpered, bottom lip beginning to quiver as Donnie wrapped an arm around him. "You can stop." Mikey whimpered, trying not to tear up.

"What if we don't want to?" Donnie asked, the question like a whisper.

"Even if you don't want to, I'd appreciate it if you did." Mikey replied.

Leo placed a kiss on Mikey's hand, looking to Mikey, who looked to a nearby wall with what seemed like shame.

"If you're trying to praise my body, I'll assure you that it won't work." Mikey huffed.

"It seems to be working to me. You're speaking your mind, so that's a start." Leo replied, hugging Mikey close.

Mikey groaned softly, attempting to ignore the soft kisses on his cheek from Donnie.

"Why are _YOU_ involved in this, Dee? You don't even like affection." Mikey questioned.

"Maybe not, but as long as you're happy, I've decided to do what's needed." Donnie hummed.

"This is making me more disturbed than happy." Mikey admitted.

"At least pretend you understand the purpose of this." Raph sighed.

Mikey let out a sound that resembled a mixture of an aroused whimper and a pained groan, the sound itself leaning more towards the pained groan aspect.

"Just calm down and enjoy this. We want you to know what you mean to us." Donnie instructed softly.

"How much I mean? So dad really _DID_ tell you." Mikey sighed.

"Yes, he did. And, frankly, I'm glad that he did. If he hadn't, we would have gone on never knowing." Raph chimed.

"Which is what I wanted." Mikey grumbled, gasping at the sudden bite he received on both sides of his neck. "Y'know, for wanting me to feel like I'm worth something, you sure are getting passive aggressive about the situation."

"Sorry. Involuntary reaction." Donnie chuckled.

"I just wanted to bite him." Leo hummed.

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to-"

"No, we are NOT. And we discussed that before we came in here." Donnie hissed under his breath to Leo, who stuck out his tongue and smirked. "Don't you dare..."

"What? It's body worship! You can't expect me to cling on to someone and be told to praise them without getting some kind of fantasy!" Leo whisper-shouted.

"You two are literally clinging onto me. I can hear you." Mikey sighed.

"Way to ruin the moment." Raph groaned.

"The moment was ruined as soon as Leo started talking." Mikey commented.

"Well, we tried." Donnie sighed, letting Mikey go. "Leo, down."

"But, I'm not done!" Leo whined.

"He's your baby brother. Hence, you're blood related." Donnie reminded.

"Note taken." Leo coughed, letting Mikey go. "Sorry."

Mikey frowned, already missing the body heat- and praise -from his brothers, but refusing to admit it.

"Look, can you just... not be here?" Mikey requested.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Raph asked.

"Because you'd never understand! I'm never going to be the perfect brother you talk me up to be!" Mikey replied, looking to the floor.

"How could you say that? You've always been perfect, and we say it because it's true. No, we'll never understand how you feel, but we do know that we want to help you in any way possible. We love you, and we hate to see you so sad." Leo assured.

Mikey sniffled, thinking over the words for a few minutes before bursting into tears. Donnie and Leo took no time to wrap themselves back around Mikey, whispering reassurances and shushing him calmly.

"How can you call me perfect?! I keep making mistakes-"

"Just like everyone on the planet. Your mistakes don't define you." Donnie interrupted.

Mikey whimpered, sniffling repeatedly, even though he had nothing running out of his nose.

"I wish I could believe you. I really want to. But I just can't." Mikey whispered.

"Not yet you can't. But we will help you as much as we can until you do." Leo promised.

"What if you can't help me?" Mikey asked.

"Don't focus on what ifs. Just trust that we'll do whatever we can." Raph replied.

"Okay. I will... but, on the subject of it... do you think you can spare some time to help me now?" Mikey asked.

"It's not like I had anything better to do." Leo replied.

"Oy. Again with this." Donnie sighed, pulling Mikey closer and smirking as Leo whined in annoyance.

"I'll help you much better than Leo can." Donnie chuckled.

"Is that a challenge?" Leo asked.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Donnie replied.

Raph rolled his eyes, standing up and walking out, leaving his three younger brothers to their antics. At this crazy point, Raph was just happy that his baby brother felt as happy as they could make him again. Because the team wasn't a team without their loveable baby brother.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how to describe my feelings at the moment.
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Kyōdai ainotameni son'nani!- So much for brotherly love!
> 
> Kore wa totemo bakagete imasu, naze watashi wa dōyō shite imasu ka?- This is so stupid, why am I even upset?
> 
> Ā, anata wa watashi no kyōdai no hitoridattara īnoni!- How I wish you were one of my brothers!


End file.
